Two far-right governments now in Europe

I think your definition of ‘far right’ comes from the extreme left.

Italy’s government appears to be a on course to be a coalition of centrist and the moderate right.

Giorgia Meloni has claimed victory in Italy’s elections and promised to govern for all Italians, after exit polls gave her rightwing coalition a clear majority, putting her on course to create the most rightwing government since the end of the second world war.
From The Guardian this morning.

Martin I think most people would say she is "far right". Or at least "on" the far right.

I have heard no one describe her as even moderate right.

If she’s moderate then I just saw a flying pig pass the window
Dangerous very very dangerous

What we need to ask is why is this happening?

I do not think that the UK has ever had a far right government,
And I am a Labour voter, a moderate one.
So this perception that the UK is similar may well come from a far left point of view.

martinthebandit

I think your definition of ‘far right’ comes from the extreme left.

Italy’s government appears to be a on course to be a coalition of centrist and the moderate right.

If we are influenced by our own political views, and of course we are, we are also influenced by our knowledge. That makes someone declaring the latest Italian government to be "on course to be a coalition of centrist and the moderate right.", either further to the right than that government or more knowledgeable than others posting. It will be interesting to see.

If Martin proves to be right, I hope he will give us his view on our own government. If we can find the perspective from someone standing in the middle and looking both ways (with knowledge) rather than looking down from a point toward one end or the other, it will help with our own perspective.

I hope Martin is right but fear he is wrong and will await a bit more evidence before I decide.

If the current UK government and the new Italian one is not seen as 'far right', then I dread what those people think that is!!!

I will tell you Franbern It is the far right government led by Viktor Orban in Hungary, the worst in Europe.
I also think that the Italian one could prove to be far right, it is certainly the most far to the right one in a long long time there.What cannot be said is that we have a far right government here in the UK.

To me, they're very similar in other ways too (lowering the tone a bit here) but I can't get over how alike Liz Truss and Giorgia Meloni look! Several times today, scanning the news I've mistaken one for the other.

Prentice

I will tell you Franbern It is the far right government led by Viktor Orban in Hungary, the worst in Europe.
I also think that the Italian one could prove to be far right, it is certainly the most far to the right one in a long long time there.What cannot be said is that we have a far right government here in the UK.

Quite!

Franbern

If the current UK government and the new Italian one is not seen as 'far right', then I dread what those people think that is!!!

Both far right for sure, but in a very different way.
Both equally terryfying, again in very different ways.

I don’t think Italy will necessarily have a far right government because they have elected a far right leader, her party based on the results in so far has 26% of the vote, so it will be a coalition, if other parties will work with them.

She represents all the worst of fascism- not sure the left could possibly work with her.

tickingbird

What we need to ask is why is this happening?

Good question.

We didn't vote in our government; somehow it just happened when we were distracted by other events. Government by the back door.
I am angry.

I am angry.

Yes, I’m angry about that. We should have had a general election in my opinion. I don’t know that I’d describe the present government as far right, and it’s certainly not facist, that was Hitler, not the useless Truss, but I didn’t and wouldn’t vote for the crew we’ve got in power now.

Prentice

I will tell you Franbern It is the far right government led by Viktor Orban in Hungary, the worst in Europe.
I also think that the Italian one could prove to be far right, it is certainly the most far to the right one in a long long time there.What cannot be said is that we have a far right government here in the UK.

I did not want to decide about the Italian Government as they are not power yet and I do not know what they have said they will do. It has seemed like a lot of slogans so far. That doesn't make it too early for an Italian to say but I would only be going by our news sources, and I trust few of them these days.

However, the UK government sounds like a far-right government, is acting like a far-right government, and its intention is a far-right outcome, so it is almost certainly a far-right government.

maddyone

^I am angry.^

Yes, I’m angry about that. We should have had a general election in my opinion. I don’t know that I’d describe the present government as far right, and it’s certainly not facist, that was Hitler, not the useless Truss, but I didn’t and wouldn’t vote for the crew we’ve got in power now.

No, it is not fascist. You would have to add the authoritarian, ultranationalist political ideology to make it that.

Sadly, I am not holding my breath on this.

The problem with fascism, as history shows, is that it does not happen over night but attitudes develop slowly over time, until gradually becoming mainstream. I believe there are certainly signs of this happening in Europe, and worldwide.

I hope you’re not right Farzanah. I’m not sure that I see signs of fascism in Europe but I do see a swing to the right in some countries. I think we collectively, meaning citizens of Europe, will need to take a look at why this is happening before anything will change.
Politically I prefer moderate government. Neither far right nor far left. We haven’t got that at the moment obviously.

No, it is not fascist.

Yes Daisy the reasons you give are exactly the reasons I think our present government is not fascist, although is lurching very much to the right. I’m reluctant to call it far right because many people appear to think far right is fascist. And I don’t think we’ve ever had a fascist government in this country, anymore than we’ve ever had a communist government. We’ve had left wing government, not communist governments, but some people confuse the the labels.

If people don’t think that this government is far right, where on the political spectrum would you place this government?

It’s very much right wing, but I worry about using the descriptor far right because of the tendency to conflate the terms far right and fascist. Therefore I think this is a right wing government who are lurching further to the right.

I think our current Government may not be far right fascists but they are too far right for my liking. As for Italy, I think there are some worrying signs for the LGBQT+ community and it will be interesting to see just how Meloni is going to tackle other issues given some of her so called "softening".